La-La Land
24/09/23 07:09
The New England Patriots are 0-2, with both games being lost at home. God, I love to see that team lose. I don't have any feelings about football one way or another, and I never watch football just to watch football, but I do love to see the Patriots lose when they do play. What does that say about me? I think it probably has more to do with my dislike for the scumbag coach, Bill Belichick. If you've ever heard him in his post-game pressers, especially when they lose, you know what I'm talking about. He hid behind Tom Brady for a lot of years when Tom was the best quarterback in the league. Tom carried that bastard on his back, and Belichick took maybe a little more credit for Tom's ascendency than he was justifiably entitled to. That's not my opinion, it's been born out by Belichick's subpar performance since Tom left the Patriots. We'll see how long Bob Kraft puts up with his bullshit. The clock is ticking.
I'm trying to follow this UAW strike as best I can. They seem to be asking for a lot, including 4-day work weeks, a thirty-something percent raise over maybe four years, and increased job security. How any of that squares with Biden's push to electrify our auto industry here in the United States is anyone's guess. I heard someone say this morning that building an electric car requires forty percent less labor than it does to build a non-electric vehicle. Did I mention that Americans don't want electric vehicles? You have your leftist moonbats who drive the stupid things around town while wearing their masks to ward off COVID-19, but that's about it. They're stupid enough to buy into the carbon footprint nonsense and would sooner walk than put one waft of carbon into the air. These are the same stupid ducks who tell you to believe the science. Science tells me that we'd be up shit's creek without carbon in the atmosphere, so there's that. Whatever the workers get out of this strike, it's likely to be pyrrhic at best if Biden gets his way. Remember what I said about the forty percent.
You don't see China or Russia trying to de-carbonize, do you? That's a rhetorical question. They would like nothing better than to see our country convert everything under the sun to electricity. It would make us an easy target if push came to shove. We'd collapse under our own weight in a matter of days. Word already has it that our electric grid is the first thing China would take out if and when things go south. Do we have an electrified military that can respond quickly in the event that we need to protect ourselves or our allies? We do not. Would it surprise anyone to learn that either China or Russia is behind the movement in the United States and other countries to decarbonize? With China's bankrolling of the Biden family, as evidenced by the various and sundry money transfers uncovered by the Republicans in Congress, one can only guess as to what motives China might have for making such investments. Maybe we don't have to guess. Seeing is believing.
Speaking of China, I'm reading reports every day about China flying more and more planes over Taiwan night and day and fleets of Chinese warships forming what can only be described as a blockade around the tiny island. It seems like China has the means and the desire to invade Taiwan, so what the hell are they waiting for? What's with the show of force day in and day out? Is it a game of intimidation? Are they expecting the Taiwanese just to hang out the white flag of surrender, and that's the end of it? It's a little like the boy who cried fire in a crowded theater. He can cry all he wants, but if there is no fire, then everyone goes back to watching what they went there to watch. Maybe China is testing the waters to see who does what when they do what they do. Once everyone is accustomed to not reacting to the perceived threats, they go in with guns a-blazing. Assuming that happens, we'll see how the chips fall, pun intended. The West is totally dependent on the semiconductor chips coming out of Taiwan, or so they say. How will any of that factor into what we do or don't do when it comes to our desire to defend Taiwan? Maybe it's true what they say about paper tigers.
I didn't see any hummingbirds around yesterday, so I'm guessing that they've gone for another season. It was fun while it lasted. We celebrate their arrival in early May each year, and we say goodbye to them around now each year as they head for parts south. I've made little to no progress in trying to figure out who is who and whether or not we see the same birds return year after year or simply another family of hummingbirds who are, for lack of a better word, new to the neighborhood. Their behavior is so predictable that one is inclined to think that you're seeing the same birds come and go each year. The dueling, the bobbing and weaving, the prancing, and the preening are always the same. So much of what we see happens around the feeders we put out each year, so maybe none of this should be a surprise. Is it not the same with woodpeckers who come around when we have the birdfeeders out? They select the largest nuts they can find and fly away with the nuts in their beaks to stash them away for future consumption. I suspect both woodpeckers and hummingbirds see the same predictable behavior in we humans. I hope they get as much satisfaction from watching us as we do them. It does make one wonder.
I wrote something last week about Senator John Fetterman and how I thought he had been replaced in the Senate chamber with a doppelganger. Everyone knows that he's a cognitive mess after God only knows how many strokes he's suffered since being elected to the Senate from Pennsylvania a year or two ago. He's had a few bouts of depression, which have taken him out of the well of the Senate for weeks at a time, and now rumors persist that the person calling himself John Fetterman in the Senate is not really John Fetterman. That aside, we also know Fetterman's personal preference for wearing a hoodie, sneakers, and shorts as his preferred garb while serving in the Senate at the behest of the good people of Pennsylvania. I don't know precisely when push came to shove about the decorum, or lack thereof, of his wearing what he damn well pleases when on the Senate floor, but Chuckles Schumer, the Speaker, changed the rules yesterday to allow senators to wear what they please instead of the historic rules in place regarding suits and ties. I'm guessing this was an accommodation of sorts that one usually sees when someone has a disability. I suspect the freak of the senate will continue to wear his hoodied attire while his fellow senators will continue to don the usual garb of their forefathers in the Senate. Or, will Fetterman's fellow democrats follow him into the swill of silliness with their own matching hoodies, sneakers, and gym shorts to make him feel less isolated?
I thought I saw something about Elon Musk wanting to charge people for their access to Twitter, or X. I think he called it a subscription fee of sorts. I might be more open to the idea of paying a small fee if I thought it was worth it. As it is, I'm really questioning the newsworthiness of the platform. I find that when I scroll down a page or two, I start seeing stories repeating themselves. I'm constantly clicking on the refresh button to see if there is any new content. I'm also noticing that the newsfeed I see has a "cleaned-up" look. That is to say, any and all hyperbole, possible misinformation, and mayhem, all the stuff that I like is gone. It's a little like the posts that I post that I see going nowhere after I post them. I know I have shit for followers, but having zero views makes no sense to me. And then there are other stories, like the F-35 that went missing after the pilot ejected over the Carolinas somewhere, that look like AI has them on a continual wash, rinse, repeat. Enough already. The last time I looked, Twitter wasn't in direct competition with the Daily Mail. I guess I'm saying that I won't miss Twitter if I take my business elsewhere because I don't consider his business model worthy of any fee, much less a small fee. It was fun while it lasted.
Did you hear about that guy who got killed at the Patriots game last week? This is the same game that I referenced in the opening paragraph of this week's blog post. The Patriots lost the game when they failed to capitalize on a last-minute play that would have given them a new set of downs on their own 5-yard line or so. The details in the press around the death of this fellow are sparse indeed. That should tell you how much influence the owner of the Patriots team has when it comes to revealing what really happened that fateful day. The last thing the owner of an NFL team like the Patriots wants in the aftermath of an event like this is to get bad press or to give the public the impression, for better or worse, that your loved ones are potentially in harm's way by attending a Patriots game. We know the victim in this case, but we know nothing about the person who allegedly threw the fatal punch or punches that ended the man's life. Why hasn't anyone been charged? I have to believe that the entire fracas was caught on film. Where is all the video? Everyone has a phone with a camera, so why hasn't someone posted the footage? How much alcohol was consumed by one or both parties? Fuck the Patriots and their memory-holing of this story. The public deserves to know the facts. Who the hell do they think they are?
It was awful. Bumbles Biden went to the UN yesterday to give his speech. The leaders of China, France, and Russia were not in attendance. They know how cognitively challenged Bumbles Biden is and decided to pass on the event. It was a weak and insipid speech by a weak and corrupt globalist. Both Bumbles and the grifter from Ukraine, Zelensky, sang the praises of globalism and Climate Change. You couldn't understand half the words coming out of Bumble's mouth, so I have to wonder what half of the audience who speak little to no English heard coming through their earpieces. Had the Western media bothered to show the faces of the audience, which they did not, you would have seen the look of abject boredom or laughter at the nonsense coming out of Bumble's mouth. He can't even read a teleprompter anymore. Maybe that's the point of putting him on the world's stage. His inability to project strength on the global stage is emblematic of America's decline. It is no different than when President Obama went on a tour of European capitals and apologized for America's behavior. For better or worse, at least Obama could deliver a speech using a teleprompter.
Trump still holds a very healthy lead on the road to his party's nomination. He's a good fifty to sixty points ahead of his next closest competitor, Ron DeSantis. Poor little Chris Christie is running his mouth, and he's just mad now that Trump will not be in attendance at the next debate coming up in a week or two. He said something recently about dogging Trump on the campaign trail, but here is what I say to him: Good luck. Christie says that the American people deserve to hear from Trump. Someone hasn't been paying attention. Trump is everywhere and anywhere where anyone will give him an interview. It seems inconceivable that Biden will be able to run for a second term despite his announcing that he's in it to win it. He's so feeble and infirm, forgetting his cognitive challenges for the moment, that no one wants him representing our country anymore. Well, maybe his Marxist followers and his died-in-the-wool stooges who have voted for the fool since he first ran for the Senate when he was 29 years old. That doesn't get him even close to the 81 million votes plus he'll need to win in 2024. It's also no secret that he will never finish his second term in office should he prevail. Maybe he wins if he replaces Kamala Harris with Michael Obama.
The financial markets have been really weird. You'd think that with all the tumult going on around the globe, we'd have a skyrocketing VIX. That is to say, we'd see more volatility in the markets day to day. Treasuries have been at all-time highs, and the price of Brent crude is approaching $100 a barrel. The bond market is trying to tell us something about inflation, and nobody's listening. Powell talks today at two, and the expectation is that he'll not raise interest rates despite inflation being on the rise. Will he signal to investors that he's done raising rates? Dunno. The Stock market is a few percentage points off the highs of 2021, even with interest rates at generational highs. Do valuations not mean anything anymore? Apple stock is 30 times earnings, while the average for Apple is 15 times earnings. It's also not lost on anyone that the big tech stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia are holding up the indices, given their weighting. There are few to no new daily highs in the market for tech stocks, and the carnage beneath the surface is real. What that means for the year-end rally is a good question. Will the market climb the proverbial wall of worry to new highs? How long will it last, and how far will it go? Where is my fucking crystal ball when I need it?
So, Bumbles was on a stage somewhere yesterday with Brazil's president. There may have been another person there, but I am unsure. There was one video clip where Bumbles was fiddling endlessly with his earpiece or microphone while the president of Brazil was standing next to him at the podium doing his thing. Bumbles was in la-la land, and anyone with half a brain could see that Bumbles was lost in whichever stage of dementia or senility he was currently immersed in. Dr. Jill was nowhere to be found, and no one was coming to Bumble's side to help him put it all together. It gets worse. When they finished their speeches, Bumbles shook hands with the other fellow on the stage, not Brazil's president, and strode off stage without so much as a nod to Brazil's president. Brazil's president threw up his hands in frustration and walked off stage by himself. Can you fucking imagine? How about the other day when Bumbles was in the Oval Office with the president of Israel, and he started making the sign of the cross while Netanyahu was still talking? You simply can't make this shit up. This has got to stop. Who the hell is running our country?
Did I mention that we probably had another ten thousand illegal aliens come across our southern border yesterday? They were handed their checks for $2,200 and given transportation to a city of their choice. How many is that now? Are we up to ten million yet? We have half a dozen states in our country that are less populated than the millions Biden has ushered into our country since he was inaugurated. I thought it was the job of the American president to protect our borders. Why has nobody been impeached for allowing this invasion to go on unchecked? Hell, why have we not put someone in jail for enabling the invasion? Our schools are overcrowded with people who don't speak our language; our hospitals are overrun with people bringing viruses and diseases that have long been eradicated in our country; and yet the Mexican Cartels and their American counterparts are making billions of dollars with one of the most significant mass migration movements since World War II. Are the cartels paying our politicians to look the other way? WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR BORDERS AND OUR CULTURE?
How many of our children need to be raped or killed before we do something? How many of our neighborhoods will be destroyed before we do something? How many of our fellow Americans will be killed on our highways by illegal aliens who can't read the road signs yet are given licenses to drive by every blue state governor in our country? The governors of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are giving illegal aliens driver's licenses. When they sign up for licenses, they are immediately registered to vote. Can you guess what kinds of identifications will be required when these illegal aliens show up to vote in our presidential elections? If you think none, you would be right. Can you imagine how many illegal aliens will vote for Biden over Trump when Biden is giving them $2,200 a month and Trump wants to deport them? Right again. All of them. Every fucking last one of them. These two states are just the first two. Every last blue state in our country will do the same in time. This is what they do, this is who they are. I'm not wrong when I say that Democrats hate America. They hate it so much that they are willing to destroy it if that is what it takes to take control of the apparatus in perpetuity.
I was listening to one talk show guy out of Boston, and he said that he was in a city called Methuen recently, and while stopping by a fast food joint, he noticed that no one was speaking English. Methuen is in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts is a sanctuary state, which may explain why it is getting harder and harder to find anyone speaking our native language in that state. The problem is that the illegals are pushing God-fearing American citizens who want no part of this Marxist wet dream to other states like the one where I reside, which is not a sanctuary state. We here in New Hampshire refer to the Marxists living in Massachusetts as Mass-holes, and for good reason. We want no part of their Marxist politics or their people, and, had we our druthers, we would erect a wall on our southern border to keep them from moving here and polluting our culture and politics. Our state motto is quite explicit, and we wear it on our collective sleeves here in New Hampshire: Live Free or Die.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but we must stop giving Ukraine money. We're fucking broke. There is some spending bill or other up for consideration in Congress, and we have a handful of Republican patriots standing in the way of its passage. They want no part in giving the grifter in Ukraine another nickel while our borders are completely open. I heard about some organization or other yesterday who discovered that the Biden Administration has been flying in planeloads of illegal aliens from Central and South America under the cover of darkness to some 22 American cities. These bastards are sending planes down there to pick up these illegal aliens. I believe they have transported some quarter million illegals year-to-date. They are flooding our country with these illegal aliens and doing it intentionally and with prejudice. I think "with prejudice" sounds worse, so I put that in for effect. They could not get the names of the airports, so who the hell knows where they're going? Anyway, Congress is still pushing back against sending money to Ukraine. Is it any coincidence here, the day after the news broke about not funding Ukraine, that there are now reports out of Ukraine that Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian lines? You know that's not true. They will say anything they have to say to keep the money flowing into the coffers of the corrupt bastards in Ukraine. There are no coincidences. Keep fighting the good fight, Patriots!
Did I mention that Poland has decided to stop sending resources to Ukraine? They likely see it as a lost cause and probably have better things to do with their money than send it into the money pit that is Ukraine. Poland is the first NATO country to stop funding Ukraine. There is probably a bit more to this story, but it is what it is. Good for Poland. Good for the people of Poland. Germany is not doing well economically, so it remains to be seen how long they can continue to send resources to Ukraine. For the life of me, I cannot understand what anyone is thinking when it comes to their commitments to what appears to be a lost cause. Ukraine is not going to win a war against Russia. Even here in the United States, I can't imagine that anyone thinks that sending Ukraine more money will make any difference in how this eventually ends. It has to be for the benefit of the Military Industrial Complex. Maybe Bumbles and his Marxist entourage in Washington, especially after their boondoggle in bungling the Afghanistan departure, can't let this go for fear of losing two wars back-to-back. That's not something you want on your resume when you want to win a second four-year term for the presidency. No siree, fucking Bob.
I hate doing this, but I must say what needs to be said. Bumbles was giving a speech yesterday to the National Hispanic Caucus in Washington, and, at one point in his remarks, he referred to the group sitting in front of him as the National Black Caucus. Wat? Can you imagine what any one or more of those attendees was thinking when they heard those remarks? Most attendees were likely aware that the person giving the speech, forgetting for a minute that it was the president of the United States, was a bit loosey-goosey with the facts. They've heard the stories and seen the video of the mostly embarrassing but always concerning reports about the diminished cognitive function of the most powerful man on the face of the planet, but they've never experienced it firsthand. It had to be frightening, to say the least. But, it's not every day that you get to be in the company of the President of the United States, so you keep your comments to yourself. There was also a story in the news yesterday about Bumbles telling one of his usual stories only to repeat the same story two minutes later to the same group. The media doesn't even bother referring to these things as gaffes anymore. They just don't cover them. Period.
I remember last year that we had very few acorns dropping on the roads and driveways in August and September, and it turned out to be an easy winter. It was easy because we had less snow than usual during the ensuing winter months. I can't recall if I was walking about day-to-day complaining about the warmer-than-usual temperatures. We used less oil throughout the winter, but that was due to our frequent buying and using a space heater. I also remember clearing the snow off our roof maybe three to four times during the winter, which was a handful of times less than usual. I remember thinking that I could probably get used to winters like this. Fast forward to this August and September, and we have a damn bumper crop of acorns. Lawns hereabouts are still green and lush even this far into the summer, thanks to the crazy and consistent rainfall we've experienced this year. Based on the acorns I'm seeing, I'm guessing that Mother Nature has something very different in mind for us this coming winter. I even heard a weather forecaster yesterday talking about weather patterns and how we're in store for a tougher-than-usual winter. Buckle up, boys and girls.
We took Mrs. G to Applecrest Farms in Exeter yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the sixties, and she was game, so off we went. She no longer drives, so we try to get her out for a ride every so often, if for no other reason than to give her a change of scenery. Who doesn't like a change of scenery every once and a while? I suspect she has a friend or two in her facility who might ask her to join them now and then for a ride, so that's good. Her facility also provides transportation for tenants who need to go to this or that appointment or get the hell off the premises if that's what they want to do. Applecrest was busier than usual due to families and other folks stopping by to do a little apple picking or maybe do a little shopping in their store. We got Mrs. G a shopping cart, and off she went. The missus and her mother exchanged pleasantries here and there when their paths crossed inside the store, but it was all good. I was a little surprised when we all left the store when Mrs. G asked me to pick her up a pumpkin at one of the local supermarkets in town. We were surrounded by damn pumpkins at the Farm! She didn't want to pay the price they were asking for their pumpkins, so that was that. Sometimes, you have to put your foot down. Will do, Mrs. G. I'm on it!
It's a lazy rainy afternoon here at home, and I'm thinking I need to write a couple more paragraphs here in this blog before I post it tomorrow. I just got back from a quick trip to Dunkin' with a nice hot latte for the missus and me, and I'm fired up after just a couple of sips. The missus suggested I go as we were lazing around in bed, so off I went. Now that I'm back, she's fast asleep. She never takes a nap, so it surprised me when I saw her eyes closed and the blankets pulled up around her chin. I stood there looking at her, thinking that she might open her eyes at any moment, but she was down for the count. The longer she sleeps, the more annoyed she's likely to get when she gets up and out of bed. I think I hear her grunting and groaning now. She probably doesn't know that I've returned from the store and I'm sitting here with a nearly-full cup of coffee just waiting for her to wake up. Check that - it's more of a moaning and groaning than a grunting and groaning. Will she be forever grateful for the gift of caffeine that I've brought home? Or, will she complain that it tastes like mud?
The New England Patriots are playing tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. They lost the first two games of the season, so what are the chances of them losing again? I only like to watch them when they lose, so I may have to pass on tomorrow's game. You heard me right. I only like to watch them when they lose. My personal animus with the team probably has more to do with their head coach, Belichick, than any one of the individual team members. I've always thought that he rode the coattails of Tom Brady for all of those years when Tom was taking the team to the Superbowl seemingly every other year. Part of me thinks that he wanted, and tried desperately, to take credit for Tom's achievements. That's never a good look.
Now, I'm just thinking that the Patriots are odds-on-favorites to win the game tomorrow against the Jets. In fact, because the Jets just lost their new and iconic quarterback to a torn ligament, Belichick and his team are now in a better position to win their conference title. Not because of Belichick, mind you, but because the Jets lost their best quarterback. That won't stop Belichick from taking credit for his team's winning performance on the ground. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Then again, if Belichick does lose the game tomorrow against the Jets, that may be more than Bob Kraft can bear. I'd love to see that fucker Belichick get canned on the fifty-yard line.
Have you ever seen that show on television called "On Patrol"? It might be "On Patrol Live." It's a Dan Abrams production. When Dan isn't doing his television show, he does a radio show on Sirius called "Abrams and the Law." He professes to be neither a liberal nor a conservative, but, to me, he leans left. Dan has an extensive team of cameramen who travel with cops in a dozen or so cities across our country, and they document their activities while they're on patrol. Dan and a couple of others on his production team coordinate and pivot to the various on-site locations from a snazzy control room in an undisclosed location. It's all quite entertaining if you enjoy watching high-speed chases, drug busts, vagrant interventions, domestic disputes, and just about everything else under the sun. My God, what the cops have to put up with.
In another lifetime, I might have enjoyed doing what they do. If I had to put my finger on the most common refrain that I hear on the show, it would be, "LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!!.) I don't particularly enjoy seeing them interact with people who have obvious mental health issues, but I take some comfort in seeing them taken into custody for their own protection. Maybe that means they get a bed to sleep on and three meals a day for however long that lasts. Did I mention that some of the female cops are babes in their own right? Lastly, I just don't know what the people who try to elude the cops by driving away at a high rate of speed are thinking when they take off. They will get you, and they will arrest you. Give it a watch.
I'm trying to follow this UAW strike as best I can. They seem to be asking for a lot, including 4-day work weeks, a thirty-something percent raise over maybe four years, and increased job security. How any of that squares with Biden's push to electrify our auto industry here in the United States is anyone's guess. I heard someone say this morning that building an electric car requires forty percent less labor than it does to build a non-electric vehicle. Did I mention that Americans don't want electric vehicles? You have your leftist moonbats who drive the stupid things around town while wearing their masks to ward off COVID-19, but that's about it. They're stupid enough to buy into the carbon footprint nonsense and would sooner walk than put one waft of carbon into the air. These are the same stupid ducks who tell you to believe the science. Science tells me that we'd be up shit's creek without carbon in the atmosphere, so there's that. Whatever the workers get out of this strike, it's likely to be pyrrhic at best if Biden gets his way. Remember what I said about the forty percent.
You don't see China or Russia trying to de-carbonize, do you? That's a rhetorical question. They would like nothing better than to see our country convert everything under the sun to electricity. It would make us an easy target if push came to shove. We'd collapse under our own weight in a matter of days. Word already has it that our electric grid is the first thing China would take out if and when things go south. Do we have an electrified military that can respond quickly in the event that we need to protect ourselves or our allies? We do not. Would it surprise anyone to learn that either China or Russia is behind the movement in the United States and other countries to decarbonize? With China's bankrolling of the Biden family, as evidenced by the various and sundry money transfers uncovered by the Republicans in Congress, one can only guess as to what motives China might have for making such investments. Maybe we don't have to guess. Seeing is believing.
Speaking of China, I'm reading reports every day about China flying more and more planes over Taiwan night and day and fleets of Chinese warships forming what can only be described as a blockade around the tiny island. It seems like China has the means and the desire to invade Taiwan, so what the hell are they waiting for? What's with the show of force day in and day out? Is it a game of intimidation? Are they expecting the Taiwanese just to hang out the white flag of surrender, and that's the end of it? It's a little like the boy who cried fire in a crowded theater. He can cry all he wants, but if there is no fire, then everyone goes back to watching what they went there to watch. Maybe China is testing the waters to see who does what when they do what they do. Once everyone is accustomed to not reacting to the perceived threats, they go in with guns a-blazing. Assuming that happens, we'll see how the chips fall, pun intended. The West is totally dependent on the semiconductor chips coming out of Taiwan, or so they say. How will any of that factor into what we do or don't do when it comes to our desire to defend Taiwan? Maybe it's true what they say about paper tigers.
I didn't see any hummingbirds around yesterday, so I'm guessing that they've gone for another season. It was fun while it lasted. We celebrate their arrival in early May each year, and we say goodbye to them around now each year as they head for parts south. I've made little to no progress in trying to figure out who is who and whether or not we see the same birds return year after year or simply another family of hummingbirds who are, for lack of a better word, new to the neighborhood. Their behavior is so predictable that one is inclined to think that you're seeing the same birds come and go each year. The dueling, the bobbing and weaving, the prancing, and the preening are always the same. So much of what we see happens around the feeders we put out each year, so maybe none of this should be a surprise. Is it not the same with woodpeckers who come around when we have the birdfeeders out? They select the largest nuts they can find and fly away with the nuts in their beaks to stash them away for future consumption. I suspect both woodpeckers and hummingbirds see the same predictable behavior in we humans. I hope they get as much satisfaction from watching us as we do them. It does make one wonder.
I wrote something last week about Senator John Fetterman and how I thought he had been replaced in the Senate chamber with a doppelganger. Everyone knows that he's a cognitive mess after God only knows how many strokes he's suffered since being elected to the Senate from Pennsylvania a year or two ago. He's had a few bouts of depression, which have taken him out of the well of the Senate for weeks at a time, and now rumors persist that the person calling himself John Fetterman in the Senate is not really John Fetterman. That aside, we also know Fetterman's personal preference for wearing a hoodie, sneakers, and shorts as his preferred garb while serving in the Senate at the behest of the good people of Pennsylvania. I don't know precisely when push came to shove about the decorum, or lack thereof, of his wearing what he damn well pleases when on the Senate floor, but Chuckles Schumer, the Speaker, changed the rules yesterday to allow senators to wear what they please instead of the historic rules in place regarding suits and ties. I'm guessing this was an accommodation of sorts that one usually sees when someone has a disability. I suspect the freak of the senate will continue to wear his hoodied attire while his fellow senators will continue to don the usual garb of their forefathers in the Senate. Or, will Fetterman's fellow democrats follow him into the swill of silliness with their own matching hoodies, sneakers, and gym shorts to make him feel less isolated?
I thought I saw something about Elon Musk wanting to charge people for their access to Twitter, or X. I think he called it a subscription fee of sorts. I might be more open to the idea of paying a small fee if I thought it was worth it. As it is, I'm really questioning the newsworthiness of the platform. I find that when I scroll down a page or two, I start seeing stories repeating themselves. I'm constantly clicking on the refresh button to see if there is any new content. I'm also noticing that the newsfeed I see has a "cleaned-up" look. That is to say, any and all hyperbole, possible misinformation, and mayhem, all the stuff that I like is gone. It's a little like the posts that I post that I see going nowhere after I post them. I know I have shit for followers, but having zero views makes no sense to me. And then there are other stories, like the F-35 that went missing after the pilot ejected over the Carolinas somewhere, that look like AI has them on a continual wash, rinse, repeat. Enough already. The last time I looked, Twitter wasn't in direct competition with the Daily Mail. I guess I'm saying that I won't miss Twitter if I take my business elsewhere because I don't consider his business model worthy of any fee, much less a small fee. It was fun while it lasted.
Did you hear about that guy who got killed at the Patriots game last week? This is the same game that I referenced in the opening paragraph of this week's blog post. The Patriots lost the game when they failed to capitalize on a last-minute play that would have given them a new set of downs on their own 5-yard line or so. The details in the press around the death of this fellow are sparse indeed. That should tell you how much influence the owner of the Patriots team has when it comes to revealing what really happened that fateful day. The last thing the owner of an NFL team like the Patriots wants in the aftermath of an event like this is to get bad press or to give the public the impression, for better or worse, that your loved ones are potentially in harm's way by attending a Patriots game. We know the victim in this case, but we know nothing about the person who allegedly threw the fatal punch or punches that ended the man's life. Why hasn't anyone been charged? I have to believe that the entire fracas was caught on film. Where is all the video? Everyone has a phone with a camera, so why hasn't someone posted the footage? How much alcohol was consumed by one or both parties? Fuck the Patriots and their memory-holing of this story. The public deserves to know the facts. Who the hell do they think they are?
It was awful. Bumbles Biden went to the UN yesterday to give his speech. The leaders of China, France, and Russia were not in attendance. They know how cognitively challenged Bumbles Biden is and decided to pass on the event. It was a weak and insipid speech by a weak and corrupt globalist. Both Bumbles and the grifter from Ukraine, Zelensky, sang the praises of globalism and Climate Change. You couldn't understand half the words coming out of Bumble's mouth, so I have to wonder what half of the audience who speak little to no English heard coming through their earpieces. Had the Western media bothered to show the faces of the audience, which they did not, you would have seen the look of abject boredom or laughter at the nonsense coming out of Bumble's mouth. He can't even read a teleprompter anymore. Maybe that's the point of putting him on the world's stage. His inability to project strength on the global stage is emblematic of America's decline. It is no different than when President Obama went on a tour of European capitals and apologized for America's behavior. For better or worse, at least Obama could deliver a speech using a teleprompter.
Trump still holds a very healthy lead on the road to his party's nomination. He's a good fifty to sixty points ahead of his next closest competitor, Ron DeSantis. Poor little Chris Christie is running his mouth, and he's just mad now that Trump will not be in attendance at the next debate coming up in a week or two. He said something recently about dogging Trump on the campaign trail, but here is what I say to him: Good luck. Christie says that the American people deserve to hear from Trump. Someone hasn't been paying attention. Trump is everywhere and anywhere where anyone will give him an interview. It seems inconceivable that Biden will be able to run for a second term despite his announcing that he's in it to win it. He's so feeble and infirm, forgetting his cognitive challenges for the moment, that no one wants him representing our country anymore. Well, maybe his Marxist followers and his died-in-the-wool stooges who have voted for the fool since he first ran for the Senate when he was 29 years old. That doesn't get him even close to the 81 million votes plus he'll need to win in 2024. It's also no secret that he will never finish his second term in office should he prevail. Maybe he wins if he replaces Kamala Harris with Michael Obama.
The financial markets have been really weird. You'd think that with all the tumult going on around the globe, we'd have a skyrocketing VIX. That is to say, we'd see more volatility in the markets day to day. Treasuries have been at all-time highs, and the price of Brent crude is approaching $100 a barrel. The bond market is trying to tell us something about inflation, and nobody's listening. Powell talks today at two, and the expectation is that he'll not raise interest rates despite inflation being on the rise. Will he signal to investors that he's done raising rates? Dunno. The Stock market is a few percentage points off the highs of 2021, even with interest rates at generational highs. Do valuations not mean anything anymore? Apple stock is 30 times earnings, while the average for Apple is 15 times earnings. It's also not lost on anyone that the big tech stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia are holding up the indices, given their weighting. There are few to no new daily highs in the market for tech stocks, and the carnage beneath the surface is real. What that means for the year-end rally is a good question. Will the market climb the proverbial wall of worry to new highs? How long will it last, and how far will it go? Where is my fucking crystal ball when I need it?
So, Bumbles was on a stage somewhere yesterday with Brazil's president. There may have been another person there, but I am unsure. There was one video clip where Bumbles was fiddling endlessly with his earpiece or microphone while the president of Brazil was standing next to him at the podium doing his thing. Bumbles was in la-la land, and anyone with half a brain could see that Bumbles was lost in whichever stage of dementia or senility he was currently immersed in. Dr. Jill was nowhere to be found, and no one was coming to Bumble's side to help him put it all together. It gets worse. When they finished their speeches, Bumbles shook hands with the other fellow on the stage, not Brazil's president, and strode off stage without so much as a nod to Brazil's president. Brazil's president threw up his hands in frustration and walked off stage by himself. Can you fucking imagine? How about the other day when Bumbles was in the Oval Office with the president of Israel, and he started making the sign of the cross while Netanyahu was still talking? You simply can't make this shit up. This has got to stop. Who the hell is running our country?
Did I mention that we probably had another ten thousand illegal aliens come across our southern border yesterday? They were handed their checks for $2,200 and given transportation to a city of their choice. How many is that now? Are we up to ten million yet? We have half a dozen states in our country that are less populated than the millions Biden has ushered into our country since he was inaugurated. I thought it was the job of the American president to protect our borders. Why has nobody been impeached for allowing this invasion to go on unchecked? Hell, why have we not put someone in jail for enabling the invasion? Our schools are overcrowded with people who don't speak our language; our hospitals are overrun with people bringing viruses and diseases that have long been eradicated in our country; and yet the Mexican Cartels and their American counterparts are making billions of dollars with one of the most significant mass migration movements since World War II. Are the cartels paying our politicians to look the other way? WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR BORDERS AND OUR CULTURE?
How many of our children need to be raped or killed before we do something? How many of our neighborhoods will be destroyed before we do something? How many of our fellow Americans will be killed on our highways by illegal aliens who can't read the road signs yet are given licenses to drive by every blue state governor in our country? The governors of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are giving illegal aliens driver's licenses. When they sign up for licenses, they are immediately registered to vote. Can you guess what kinds of identifications will be required when these illegal aliens show up to vote in our presidential elections? If you think none, you would be right. Can you imagine how many illegal aliens will vote for Biden over Trump when Biden is giving them $2,200 a month and Trump wants to deport them? Right again. All of them. Every fucking last one of them. These two states are just the first two. Every last blue state in our country will do the same in time. This is what they do, this is who they are. I'm not wrong when I say that Democrats hate America. They hate it so much that they are willing to destroy it if that is what it takes to take control of the apparatus in perpetuity.
I was listening to one talk show guy out of Boston, and he said that he was in a city called Methuen recently, and while stopping by a fast food joint, he noticed that no one was speaking English. Methuen is in Massachusetts, and Massachusetts is a sanctuary state, which may explain why it is getting harder and harder to find anyone speaking our native language in that state. The problem is that the illegals are pushing God-fearing American citizens who want no part of this Marxist wet dream to other states like the one where I reside, which is not a sanctuary state. We here in New Hampshire refer to the Marxists living in Massachusetts as Mass-holes, and for good reason. We want no part of their Marxist politics or their people, and, had we our druthers, we would erect a wall on our southern border to keep them from moving here and polluting our culture and politics. Our state motto is quite explicit, and we wear it on our collective sleeves here in New Hampshire: Live Free or Die.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but we must stop giving Ukraine money. We're fucking broke. There is some spending bill or other up for consideration in Congress, and we have a handful of Republican patriots standing in the way of its passage. They want no part in giving the grifter in Ukraine another nickel while our borders are completely open. I heard about some organization or other yesterday who discovered that the Biden Administration has been flying in planeloads of illegal aliens from Central and South America under the cover of darkness to some 22 American cities. These bastards are sending planes down there to pick up these illegal aliens. I believe they have transported some quarter million illegals year-to-date. They are flooding our country with these illegal aliens and doing it intentionally and with prejudice. I think "with prejudice" sounds worse, so I put that in for effect. They could not get the names of the airports, so who the hell knows where they're going? Anyway, Congress is still pushing back against sending money to Ukraine. Is it any coincidence here, the day after the news broke about not funding Ukraine, that there are now reports out of Ukraine that Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian lines? You know that's not true. They will say anything they have to say to keep the money flowing into the coffers of the corrupt bastards in Ukraine. There are no coincidences. Keep fighting the good fight, Patriots!
Did I mention that Poland has decided to stop sending resources to Ukraine? They likely see it as a lost cause and probably have better things to do with their money than send it into the money pit that is Ukraine. Poland is the first NATO country to stop funding Ukraine. There is probably a bit more to this story, but it is what it is. Good for Poland. Good for the people of Poland. Germany is not doing well economically, so it remains to be seen how long they can continue to send resources to Ukraine. For the life of me, I cannot understand what anyone is thinking when it comes to their commitments to what appears to be a lost cause. Ukraine is not going to win a war against Russia. Even here in the United States, I can't imagine that anyone thinks that sending Ukraine more money will make any difference in how this eventually ends. It has to be for the benefit of the Military Industrial Complex. Maybe Bumbles and his Marxist entourage in Washington, especially after their boondoggle in bungling the Afghanistan departure, can't let this go for fear of losing two wars back-to-back. That's not something you want on your resume when you want to win a second four-year term for the presidency. No siree, fucking Bob.
I hate doing this, but I must say what needs to be said. Bumbles was giving a speech yesterday to the National Hispanic Caucus in Washington, and, at one point in his remarks, he referred to the group sitting in front of him as the National Black Caucus. Wat? Can you imagine what any one or more of those attendees was thinking when they heard those remarks? Most attendees were likely aware that the person giving the speech, forgetting for a minute that it was the president of the United States, was a bit loosey-goosey with the facts. They've heard the stories and seen the video of the mostly embarrassing but always concerning reports about the diminished cognitive function of the most powerful man on the face of the planet, but they've never experienced it firsthand. It had to be frightening, to say the least. But, it's not every day that you get to be in the company of the President of the United States, so you keep your comments to yourself. There was also a story in the news yesterday about Bumbles telling one of his usual stories only to repeat the same story two minutes later to the same group. The media doesn't even bother referring to these things as gaffes anymore. They just don't cover them. Period.
I remember last year that we had very few acorns dropping on the roads and driveways in August and September, and it turned out to be an easy winter. It was easy because we had less snow than usual during the ensuing winter months. I can't recall if I was walking about day-to-day complaining about the warmer-than-usual temperatures. We used less oil throughout the winter, but that was due to our frequent buying and using a space heater. I also remember clearing the snow off our roof maybe three to four times during the winter, which was a handful of times less than usual. I remember thinking that I could probably get used to winters like this. Fast forward to this August and September, and we have a damn bumper crop of acorns. Lawns hereabouts are still green and lush even this far into the summer, thanks to the crazy and consistent rainfall we've experienced this year. Based on the acorns I'm seeing, I'm guessing that Mother Nature has something very different in mind for us this coming winter. I even heard a weather forecaster yesterday talking about weather patterns and how we're in store for a tougher-than-usual winter. Buckle up, boys and girls.
We took Mrs. G to Applecrest Farms in Exeter yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the sixties, and she was game, so off we went. She no longer drives, so we try to get her out for a ride every so often, if for no other reason than to give her a change of scenery. Who doesn't like a change of scenery every once and a while? I suspect she has a friend or two in her facility who might ask her to join them now and then for a ride, so that's good. Her facility also provides transportation for tenants who need to go to this or that appointment or get the hell off the premises if that's what they want to do. Applecrest was busier than usual due to families and other folks stopping by to do a little apple picking or maybe do a little shopping in their store. We got Mrs. G a shopping cart, and off she went. The missus and her mother exchanged pleasantries here and there when their paths crossed inside the store, but it was all good. I was a little surprised when we all left the store when Mrs. G asked me to pick her up a pumpkin at one of the local supermarkets in town. We were surrounded by damn pumpkins at the Farm! She didn't want to pay the price they were asking for their pumpkins, so that was that. Sometimes, you have to put your foot down. Will do, Mrs. G. I'm on it!
It's a lazy rainy afternoon here at home, and I'm thinking I need to write a couple more paragraphs here in this blog before I post it tomorrow. I just got back from a quick trip to Dunkin' with a nice hot latte for the missus and me, and I'm fired up after just a couple of sips. The missus suggested I go as we were lazing around in bed, so off I went. Now that I'm back, she's fast asleep. She never takes a nap, so it surprised me when I saw her eyes closed and the blankets pulled up around her chin. I stood there looking at her, thinking that she might open her eyes at any moment, but she was down for the count. The longer she sleeps, the more annoyed she's likely to get when she gets up and out of bed. I think I hear her grunting and groaning now. She probably doesn't know that I've returned from the store and I'm sitting here with a nearly-full cup of coffee just waiting for her to wake up. Check that - it's more of a moaning and groaning than a grunting and groaning. Will she be forever grateful for the gift of caffeine that I've brought home? Or, will she complain that it tastes like mud?
The New England Patriots are playing tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. They lost the first two games of the season, so what are the chances of them losing again? I only like to watch them when they lose, so I may have to pass on tomorrow's game. You heard me right. I only like to watch them when they lose. My personal animus with the team probably has more to do with their head coach, Belichick, than any one of the individual team members. I've always thought that he rode the coattails of Tom Brady for all of those years when Tom was taking the team to the Superbowl seemingly every other year. Part of me thinks that he wanted, and tried desperately, to take credit for Tom's achievements. That's never a good look.
Now, I'm just thinking that the Patriots are odds-on-favorites to win the game tomorrow against the Jets. In fact, because the Jets just lost their new and iconic quarterback to a torn ligament, Belichick and his team are now in a better position to win their conference title. Not because of Belichick, mind you, but because the Jets lost their best quarterback. That won't stop Belichick from taking credit for his team's winning performance on the ground. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Then again, if Belichick does lose the game tomorrow against the Jets, that may be more than Bob Kraft can bear. I'd love to see that fucker Belichick get canned on the fifty-yard line.
Have you ever seen that show on television called "On Patrol"? It might be "On Patrol Live." It's a Dan Abrams production. When Dan isn't doing his television show, he does a radio show on Sirius called "Abrams and the Law." He professes to be neither a liberal nor a conservative, but, to me, he leans left. Dan has an extensive team of cameramen who travel with cops in a dozen or so cities across our country, and they document their activities while they're on patrol. Dan and a couple of others on his production team coordinate and pivot to the various on-site locations from a snazzy control room in an undisclosed location. It's all quite entertaining if you enjoy watching high-speed chases, drug busts, vagrant interventions, domestic disputes, and just about everything else under the sun. My God, what the cops have to put up with.
In another lifetime, I might have enjoyed doing what they do. If I had to put my finger on the most common refrain that I hear on the show, it would be, "LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!!.) I don't particularly enjoy seeing them interact with people who have obvious mental health issues, but I take some comfort in seeing them taken into custody for their own protection. Maybe that means they get a bed to sleep on and three meals a day for however long that lasts. Did I mention that some of the female cops are babes in their own right? Lastly, I just don't know what the people who try to elude the cops by driving away at a high rate of speed are thinking when they take off. They will get you, and they will arrest you. Give it a watch.